WASHINGTON – As migrants surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Joe Biden’s administration has been caught on its heels and is now scrambling to manage a humanitarian and political challenge that threatens to overshadow its ambitious agenda.
Administration officials say Biden inherited an untenable situation that resulted from what they say was President Donald Trump’s undermining and weakening of the immigration system.
But with Congress pivoting to taking up immigration legislation, images and stories from the border have begun to dominate the headlines, distracting from the White House’s efforts to promote the recently passed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.